The Wiz of Odds

Louisiana Monroe Is Living Beyond Its Means

Update: Students voted against the proposal.

There are 120 teams in Division I-A college football, but some are on the list by name only. They truly don't belong on the same field as the big boys.

Louisiana Monroe is one such team. The Warhawks have yet to play in a bowl game since the program was elevated to I-A in 1994 and the program remains woefully underfunded. According to the Monroe News-Star, Louisiana Monroe has the lowest annual athletic budget — $8.5 million — in I-A. Of that total, $2.98 million went to football in 2009, according to the Equity in Athletics Database.

Now the school holding out a tin cup in hopes the 6,007-member student body can help.

This week, students will vote on a referendum to dramatically increase aid to the athletic department. Students currently pay $22 a semester toward athletics, but the fee will increase to $10 a semester hour up to 12 credit hours, meaning the majority of students will pay $120 a semester.

Coach Todd Berry has been lobbying students to approve the measure.

Louisiana Monroe

Want to win a bar bet? Name the last team to beat mighty Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium. That's right, it's Louisiana Monroe, which defeated the Crimson Tide, 21-14, on Nov. 17, 2007. Todd Berry is the Warhawks' new coach, replacing Charlie Weatherbie. Berry's previous head coaching experience came at Army, where was 5-36 from 2000-03. Monroe's opener is Sept. 11 against Arkansas at Little Rock, but the Warhawks will be designated as the home team in order to use the crowd count for their home attendance figures, a deal that was arranged in 2004. This allows Monroe to meet the NCAA attendance requirement of 15,000 fans per home game. Teams that fail to meet that standard supposedly risk being booted out of Division I-A, but given the need for bowl-eligible teams, that likely will never happen.

As a run up to the start of the season, the Wiz will display one poster each day until our supply is exhausted. Last year, the site displayed 69 posters.

Then we turn it over to readers, who will vote on the poster of the year. In the meantime, send your team's poster schedule to jayzuma (at) gmail.com.

Click the image for an enlarged view. Thanks to Robin!